White House stuns city by pulling plug on G8 in Chicago

(Crain's) — The White House, not City Hall, made the bombshell decision to pull the G8 summit out of Chicago, multiple sources tell Crain's.

Chicago host committee chief Lori Healey, sources in Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office and Washington insiders all said Monday that the surprise decision came from President Barack Obama's inner circle.

The White House said the decision was not prompted by second thoughts about the city's ability to host back-to-back summits, either due to the cost or the burden it would put on local businesses and residents.

“We definitely believe that Chicago can host two summits,” said Caitlyn Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, in an email. “Indeed, the NATO and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force, the NATO coalition in Afghanistan) meetings that will go forward in Chicago as planned are far larger than the G8 meetings.”

In meetings with aides over the last couple of weeks, she said, Mr. Obama started discussing the idea of moving the G8 meeting to a more secluded locale.

“The G8 is a smaller group allowing for a more intimate discussion at Camp David,” Ms. Hayden said. “And, of course, the president speaks regularly with Mayor Emanuel and consulted with him on his decision.”

Mr. Emanuel was informed sometime Monday morning, the mayor's office confirmed. Sources said they did not know whether Mr. Obama made the call himself, but the president and his former chief of staff talk frequently.

The G8 meeting will take place at Camp David May 18-19. The NATO summit will be in Chicago May 20-21.

CITY'S LATE START

Chicago had been given relatively little time to prepare for the summits, which sometimes are scheduled years in advance. Mr. Emanuel, rather, sprang the news on the city last June, notably failing to consult with organizers of the huge restaurant show, which was scheduled to meet on the same dates in May and which ended up having to reschedule to earlier in the month.

Some sources were saying Monday that the city never fully overcame the late start — particularly on the security side, with endless bad headlines here about protests and other woes to come.

Security folks felt the city was "overwhelmed," one congressional source said. Even in the South Loop federal complex, building officials still have not been fully briefed on what to expect and how to prepare.

However, on Monday afternoon, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told WLS-AM/890 that he had been surprised to learn the G8 was being moved and said the police were well-prepared, according to a tweet from radio show host Richard Roeper.

Other sources told Crain's they are not aware of any particular security threat that might have prompted the president's change of plans.

Ms. Healey, who has been in charge of raising up to $60 million to host the G8 and NATO summits, said she was notified by the mayor's office shortly after the mayor himself heard.

Like Mr. Emanuel, Ms. Healey insisted that the situation is not the slight that it might appear to be.

"All it does is compress the schedule by 24 hours," she said. "The same number of people will be coming." (All G8 countries except Japan and Russia are NATO members.)

Ms. Healy said she accepts the White House's explanation that given recent turbulence in world affairs, the leaders wanted to convene in the "more intimate setting" of Camp David before going under the media's and protesters' microscopes in Chicago.

Ms. Healey said she did not know why the White House would not have reached that conclusion earlier, and she conceded that there's no guarantee that the world leaders from NATO countries will go on to Chicago after meeting at Camp David.

RESTAURANTS, HOTELS REELING

The news of losing the G8 meeting stung downtown restaurants and hotels.

"We're disappointed," said Maria Zec, general manager of the Peninsula Chicago. "We were excited to welcome both the G8 and NATO to Chicago."

She declined to provide the number of G8-related reservations her hotel had booked.

"I'm not sure where we're going to go from here," said John Hogan, chef at downtown steakhouse Keefer's, who worked with the Illinois Restaurant Association on Chicago's Culinary Crossroads, an initiative to draw international attention to the local dining scene during the summits. "We're going to have to reassess."

As part of the program, some 50 Chicago restaurants were creating special tasting menus with the assistance of chefs visiting from the G8 nations.

Mr. Hogan, who doesn't know if the chef partnership will still happen, said the G8 loss is a major blow. "It was going to put Chicago on the international map," he said. "We were going to be able to showcase not just the city but the culinary world. It's definitely a letdown."

BUSINESS, POLITICAL LEADERS REACT

As news of the cancellation spread, observers assessed the impact on the community.

“I'm very, very pleased,” said Ty Fahner, president of the Commercial Club of Chicago and its Civic Committee. “I think it's a great decision, and it'll certainly take a great deal of the wear and tear off the city, and I think that's really good.”

However, Peter Thompson, an investment manager and nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, disagreed.

“I think Chicago was ready to shine for sure,” said Mr. Thompson, CEO of Perkins Investment Management. “I think that Rahm had done a great job, he had a great leader in Lori Healey and he had a lot of city leaders involved in hosting this thing. From that perspective, it's a disappointment.”

Doug Whitley, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, downplayed the impact on hotels, restaurants and other retailers gearing up for an event that was 10 weeks away.

“I think it was far enough away the cancellation today probably does not affect very many people,” he said. “If anything, it probably gives many people a sense of relief because it's one less thing they have to worry about.”

Mr. Fahner, a former Illinois attorney general, said the expected clashes between summit members and protesters would overshadow any expected benefits for the city.

“It might be something to look forward to if the world were different,” he said, adding that the city is “short on cash and long on needs. And I just think this takes the strain off.”

Paul Green, a history professor at Roosevelt University — which had delayed its summer session by a week to accommodate the summits — noted that downtown hotels and restaurants, along with cab drivers, will feel the loss.

“The game was not worth the potential gain," he said. "I think big cities do big things, but it was shaping up to be something that would have been a risk. Camp David makes a hell of a lot more sense. It's the times we live in.”

The thousands of protesters anticipated to come to town during the back-to-back summits prompted downtown schools to reschedule events and cancel classes and national trade shows changing dates.

DePaul University previously said it would shut down its downtown campus from May 18 to 21. A spokeswoman on Monday said the school has not yet revised its plan. "DePaul will continue to assess the situation," she said in an email.

The School of the Art Institute rescheduled its commencement to May 13 from May 19. The National Confectioners Association changed the dates for its Sweets and Snacks Expo to earlier in May to allow for the summits to take place at McCormick Place. The National Restaurant Association also moved its show to early May to allow for the G8/NATO events.